TAIF: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who chaired the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers at the Huwaiyyah Palace in Taif yesterday, affirmed the need for careful use of water and preservation of water resources.
The Saudi Press Agency quoted acting Culture and Information Minister Saud Al-Mutahammi as saying that the king ordered the speeding up of measures to solve the problem of water shortage and guarantee a sufficient water supply to all regions of the Kingdom. The measures include construction of new dams, digging wells, shifting of floating desalination plants to places close to affected regions and the hiring of fleets of tanker trucks.
Asir province and several cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah and Taif, have been suffering from water shortages and people have been obliged to wait for hours for water tankers at water distribution centers. The water shortage is attributed to climatic changes and drought in most parts of the Kingdom.
King Abdullah also briefed the council about his meetings with various heads of state including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday. In that meeting the king stressed the need for making serious efforts for a comprehensive national dialogue to end the miseries of the Palestinians.
“The council called on the Palestinian people to put their nation’s and people’s interest before anything else. All should work for the success of efforts made by Egypt to launch a dialogue between Palestinian factions,” Al-Mutahammi said.
The council ordered that the promotion to the military rank of lieutenant general should be by selection with an order from the supreme commander of all the armed forces on the basis of a proposal from the head of the Council of Ministers and recommendation of the minister. The person selected should be from among officers of the rank of major general with at least four years’ experience in that rank. A lieutenant general can serve in his post for four years which can be renewed for a period of not more than four years by an order of the supreme commander of all the armed forces, the minister said.
